Click & Collect: A New Standard in Retail

It is now hard to imagine a department store or other retailer that does not offer a multi-channel experience. One of the big developments in Omni-channel retailing today is click and collect or click and reserve. It has become increasingly popular over the last couple of years, offering customers an added benefit from shopping online.

For some it may sound more like a marketing ploy than an actual convenience. Over the past few years many companies have turned an obvious weakness into a particularly useful advantage over competitors.

Online users can now take advantage of in-store collections by picking up ordered items at their local store dedicated collection point at a time that is convenient and quite often free of any delivery charges. This creates greater options for customer convenience as, not only is their local store stock available, but the stock at other stores and online also become accessible. Whether it’s a specific dress or a new game, retailers have come to the realisation that most purchases easily justify the extra money spent on speedy shipping.

Recently, leaders in this space have even started offering same day click and collect. This is great for customers, as long as they can know with certainty that the store will have the item when they go to get it. To guarantee this, the retailer must have real time visibility of its store inventories in all stores offering the service.

Accord Momentum is changing the way in which retailers can capitalise on cloud technologies, offering a seamless, consistent user experience and improving customer service through access to accurate up-to-date customer and order information.